origins of 'kludge'

Huw Davies huw.davies at kerberos.davies.net.au
Thu Mar 31 01:31:59 CST 2005


On 31/03/2005, at 3:29 AM, gordonjcp at gjcp.net wrote:

>>
>> On 30/03/2005, at 6:01 PM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
>>
>>> Doubtless from the Scots word "cludgie", meaning outside toilet.
>>> Since we don't have those any more, it refers to any rather squalid
>>> toilet - think about the bookmaker scene in Trainspotting.
>>
>> You mean you actually understand the dialog in Trainspotting - my
>> housekeeper who originally comes from  Glasgow admits she can't
>> understand much of the dialog :-)
>
> The film is set in Edinburgh, and most of the actors are from 
> Edinburgh.
> The people from the, uhm, less salubrious parts of Edinburgh (most of 
> it,
> really) have a particularly impenetrable accent.

Well that explains it. When I was last in Edinburgh I dropped into a 
pub (it was a hot day) and had an entertaining discussion with a local 
(I didn't understand a word). Apparently (according to the barman) he 
was offering to buy me a drink and got slightly annoyed that I didn't 
appear to want to accept. Just a simple language problem...

Huw Davies           | e-mail: Huw.Davies at kerberos.davies.net.au
Melbourne            | "If soccer was meant to be played in the
Australia            | air, the sky would be painted green"



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